Shaun Marsh has hit five fifties and a hundred in the IPL. He’s streets ahead of anyone else. He’s hit the most runs and he’s averaging 74.12. He’s adding to Kings XI Punjab‘s rich history of great batsmen.

The best thing about Shaun Marsh is the way he’s scored his runs. Twenty20’s a big slogathon is it? Then how come the most successful batsman plays straighter than a Wigan binman?

During his 69 ball 115 against Rajasthan Royals, Marsh scored no fewer than 49 runs straight down the ground, hitting three fours and five sixes in that area. We’re not just talking in front of square, you understand. We mean straight back past the bowler with a satisfying ‘pock’ sound and a ‘go fetch it’ flourish.

Shaun Marsh is Geoff Marsh’s son. We didn’t know that and we’re not sure why we didn’t guess. Here’s a view of him from Down Under. Don’t worry, if you read that link again you’ll see that we’ve capitalised the initial letters of ‘Down’ and ‘Under’, so it’s not a cheeky photograph of his undercarriage it’s some Antipodean opinion.

11 Appeals

For some reason I’d got it into my head that you were supporting the Knight Riders, KC.

I’ve been most happy with my choice to follow the Punjabi MC Kings XI, complete with high-quality dance moves. Just a shame that it’s an Aussie piling up the runs, with Mahela managing pretty much naff all.

You should have gone with why the best performers in the IPL are players who haven’t really performed in the longer form of the game, thus proving T20 is in fact an inferior form of cricket despite its revenue and crowd grabbing attributes. That would might have made Spigot happy.

Dada, Is that not the truth then? That’s what I’ve learnt from the back page of the Wisden Cricketer. That guy knows his stuff.

Please note that i made effort to give grief in both directions… In fact if i bothered to count the letters, Darren Maddy provided more grief fuel that Shaun Marsh anyway. I demand wide ranging and highly analytical discussions of Maddy’s thumb. Was there any damage to his nail bed as well? Any bruising on the adjacent fingers? Is his glove going to pull thtough?